Although they have been open for eight years, we just recently dined at Uptown 596 in Upper Montclair for the first time. The meal was made pleasanter because of the accommodating and friendly waiter who graciously saw to our requests.
UPTOWN 596, UPPER MONTCLAIR
Uptown 596 is homey with wood floors, a communal table, banquette with pillows along one wall, an open kitchen and vintage pictures and old framed postcards of Montclair. It is a family-friendly restaurant, which was filled with locals, many of whom knew each other.
The menu is heavy on salads; I counted eleven of them plus a create-your-own option with choices of greens, toppings and dressings. We started with the Uptown salad containing a lovely combination of arugula, corn, hearts of palm, avocado and shaved Parmesan with a mustard-lime vinaigrette. It arrived without the dressing but our waiter brought us some, and said if we needed more to just ask. The serving was tremendous and could easily be shared by two or eaten as an entrée by one. The dressing perked up the greens, as it had zing from the mustard and tang from the lime. We loved it.
At this point, we realized that we were not served bread, so we asked the waiter if bread was available. He said yes, but you have to ask for it. We asked, he brought. He also kept us supplied with paper napkins, as the ones used here are thin and basically unusable.
The menu also has a create-your-own-entrée section, where diners have a choice of protein (salmon, shrimp, chicken or snapper) with four sauce options and two sides. We opted for the salmon prepared with olive oil, lemon, white wine, garlic and rosemary, along with herbed quinoa and roasted Brussels sprouts. The sides were flavorful, but unfortunately the salmon tasted as if it had been out of the water too long. We didn’t eat it. The waiter graciously offered to replace the salmon with something else. We declined and were not charged for this dish. An enormous serving of Uptown spaghetti squash was topped with a bland tomato sauce that contained sautéed mushrooms, spinach and asparagus. At lunch the next day, I doctored this dish up with red pepper flakes, which changed this uninteresting dish into one with more appeal.
So what do we do when only three desserts were offered—New York style cheesecake, red velvet cake and chocolate cake—none of which were made in house? We went to Holsten’s in Bloomfield for ice cream.
Uptown 596 is open for lunch and brunch Monday through Sunday from 10 AM to 3:30 PM; dinner Wednesday through Saturday 5 to 9:30 PM and Sunday 5 to 8:30 PM.
Uptown salad with arugula, corn, hearts of palm, avocado and shaved Parmesan.
Photo courtesy of Lowell Saferstein
Uptown Bistro
596 Valley Road
Montclair
973-744-0915
BYO
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